(www.miscelaneasdecuba.net).- [On Dec. 17, 2014, President Barack Obama announced a dramatic change in the United States’ policy toward Cuba, heralding the end of a Cold War-era conflict that had begun to look increasingly anachronistic. The benefits of the two longtime foes’ new and improved relationship remain to be seen — but the contradictions involved are already obvious. Over half a century of pursuing an aggressive anti-American foreign policy, Cuba has made plenty of friends whom the United States considers enemies, and Havana is unlikely to easily let go of its longtime allies. These include Russia, Venezuela, and a variety of Arab dictators, Islamic fundamentalist movements, and anti-Israeli terrorist organizations. The list of Cuba’s unsavory friends also includes Iran — a relationship of particular salience on the world stage today.

(www.miscelaneasdecuba.net).- Iran, Cuba and Venezuela have developed a close and cooperative relationship against the U.S. and in support of terrorist groups and states. The three regimes increasingly coordinate their policies and resources in a three way partnership aimed at counteracting and circumventing U.S. policies in the Middle East and Latin America. Within this relationship, Cuba plays a strategic role in terms of geography (proximity to the U.S.), intelligence gathering (both electronic eavesdropping and human espionage) and logistics.

(www.miscelaneasdecuba.net).- President Barack Obama’s announcement on December 17, 2014, about an improvement in U.S.-Cuban relations will have little, if any, impact on General Raúl Castro’s alliance with Iran, Russia and Venezuela. The close relations that these countries have developed with Cuba will not be affected. Their aid is not conditioned on changes in Cuba. They share with Castro a virulent anti-Americanism. They all share a belief that the world convergence of forces is moving against the United States. Despite economic difficulties, Cuba is unwilling to renounce these alliances and accept a role as a small Caribbean country, friendly to the United States.

(www.miscelaneasdecuba.net).- President Barack Obama’s eagerness to cut deals with Cuba at almost any cost could yield a “strategic disaster” in which the Russian military winds up controlling Guantanamo Bay, Cuba scholar Jaime Suchlicki told “MidPoint” host Ed Berliner on Newsmax TV.

(www.miscelaneasdecuba.net).- Over the past decades hundred of thousands of Canadian, European and Latin American tourists have visited the island. Cuba is not more democratic today. If anything, Cuba is more totalitarian, with the state and its control apparatus having been strengthened as a result of the influx of tourist dollars.

(www.miscelaneasdecuba.net).- When Communism collapsed in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe in 1990, Cuban-Americans, American companies and tourists optimistically expected Cuba to be the next domino to fall. I became well known back then for telling everyone “not to pack their suitcases!”

(www.miscelaneasdecuba.net).- There’s an eagerness among many in this country to begin a process of normalizing relations with Cuba. The belief persists that economic considerations could influence Raúl Castro’s policy decisions and that Cuba’s difficult economic situation will force Cuba’s leader to move toward a market economy and closer ties to the United States.

(www.miscelaneasdecuba.net).- The recent Putin visit to Cuba rekindled memories of the Cold War. In those days the Soviets used Cuba to challenge and spy on the U.S. An electronic eavesdropping facility was placed on the island. Airports and ports to service the Soviet planes and fleet were upgraded. Finally nuclear missiles were introduced bringing the world close to a nuclear holocaust.

(www.miscelaneasdecuba.net).- The views toward Cuba of many in the U.S. policy establishment have been influenced by a variety of assumptions. First and foremost, there is the strong belief that economic considerations could influence Cuban policy decisions and that an economically deteriorating situation would force the Castro brothers to move Cuba toward a market economy and eventually toward political reforms. This has not happened, General Raul Castro has introduced limited economic reforms in an attempt to muddle through a difficult situation. Yet the reforms are not structurally profound, nor are they propelling Cuba to the marketplace. In Cuba, economic decisions are determined by political and ideological considerations.